


It's Too Cold Outside

by shadowbelle94



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Emotional Abuse, Missing Scenes, My First Fanfic, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26690860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowbelle94/pseuds/shadowbelle94
Summary: He’s a strange man.And he really is. The first words he ever spoke to her was an invitation to his home. A stranger.But Hermes was right: he wasn’t like any man she’d met before.~Or Orpheus won’t stop until Eurydice agrees to become his wife, and she may or may not start to fall for him. (Canon-compliant missing scenes, filling in the gaps between Any Way the Wind Blows and Way Down Hadestown.)
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	It's Too Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. My first ever posted fanfic. I've been saying for years that I was going to post a fic one of these days and now the day has finally come! And what fandom had me do it? Hadestown. Because of COURSE it was a musical.
> 
> So this is basically a fill-in-the-blanks fic that I desperately needed. I'm planning on having each chapter take place during or around the same time as the songs in between Any Way the Wind Blows and Way Down Hadestown. 
> 
> So a couple things to keep in mind before reading. Seeing as this is my first full-length fanfic (and the first one I'll be displaying for public scrutiny), don't expect a work of art. And as I put in the tags, constructive criticism is welcome!
> 
> Another thing to keep in mind is that as you read, you'll notice that I incorporated some of the song lyrics into the story but I changed them slightly. This was just a little creative liberty I took to help the story flow a little more naturally. I just wanted to mention that now, before my readers notice it and be confused.
> 
> Well I think that's it. So...I guess without further ado, here you go! Enjoy! :)

_Winter will be over soon._

This fact alone was what was pushing her to continue to trudge through the snow. Each step heavier than the last and she was shivering in her coat which really wasn’t doing the job. Just a couple more miles until the next town, according to the merchant she asked from the last small village she passed through. Just a couple more miles, and she’ll make it to the tavern that Hermes owned.

Hermes was an old friend of her mother’s. Not that people who were associated with her mother were automatically put in her good graces, but she considered Hermes in a higher regard than the others. Her mother was a wood nymph, and her friends had always judged Eurydice. She had always assumed this was because of the rumor that her father was a mortal man, a man she had never met. Nymphs that had any mortal blood were considered outcasts, unclean. And Eurydice was no exception, and her mother was no help. She had always turned a blind eye to the teasing and mocking when she was a child and had never bothered to stop it. Eventually, Eurydice decided to leave the forest and venture out on her own. To get away from the nymphs and their prejudice. To get away from her detached mother.

And to get away from Aristaeus.

She shook the thought away. That was so long ago. She hated to dwell on the past. She needed to focus on getting to Hermes’ town.

She wouldn’t consider Hermes a “friend,” exactly. She didn’t really have any. And she never really did. But Hermes had written to her when he had found out that she was staying in one of the bigger villages just outside Delphi. He wrote about his tavern near the railroad tracks and offered a room to stay in for the summer, along with three square meals a day, and the pleasure of his company. She had taken the offer because she figured she needed a change. A place to stay for a little while until she gets the urge to leave again, because she definitely wasn’t going to stay forever. And it would be nice to not be lonely during her extended break from traveling wherever the wind took her.

And she definitely couldn’t pass up free food. Especially during this time of year.

It’ll get better soon, though. Because any day now, Persephone will be leaving Hadestown for her own extended stay Up Top. And she’ll be bringing a brighter sun with her. A bountiful harvest.

And with that, she clutched the strap of her knapsack and her coat tighter to her chest. Just a couple more miles until she would have shelter from the wind.

* * *

“Well it’s about time.”

After almost another hour of trekking through the heavy snow and harsh winds, the sun had set behind her. And when it did, she finally picked out some twinkling lights in the distance from some of the houses near the town where Hermes’ tavern was stationed. The town was a little bigger than she imagined, with more shops and buildings than she could count. She had to ask around the main square for directions, but that didn’t take long. Hermes and his tavern were very popular here.

When she had finally arrived at the small building sitting next to the train tracks, she walked around to a back door that Hermes had said to enter. She had given three heavy knocks on the door and Hermes opened the door in his pale gray suit. When he recognized her, he crossed his arms and had a small smile on his face.

“What took you so long, young lady?” he continued. 

Eurydice rolled her eyes. “Well walking on foot in the dead of winter isn’t exactly the fastest way of traveling,” she answered in a deadpan tone.

Hermes chuckled good-naturedly and stepped of the way. “Well come on in. Don’t want the wind to blow you away!”

Eurydice stepped inside and internally sighed in relief. She _hated_ winter and being sheltered from the cold weather gave her such a lovely feeling, she could’ve wept. Hermes helped to brush the snow off her shoulders.

“I have a lot of work to do today,” Hermes said as he led her down a dim hallway. “I got a very special guest coming in a few days and I need this place to be in top shape. But feel free to hang out in the dining area and we can catch up later this evening.”

They entered the brightly lit tavern, with its wooden floors and several people sitting at tables scattered about the area. The room was quite loud with the sounds of friendly conversations being exchanged and hearty laughter at jokes she couldn’t hear. Off to the far side of the room, there was a bar, with shelves behind it full of different bottles of liquor. And although there was a small fire burning in a hearth at the back of the dining room, but she still felt chilled to the bone.

“Hey, you gotta match I can borrow?” she asked her host. She had bought a candle from a shop she had passed on her way here and she was about to put it to good use.

He reached his fingers into his coat pocket and pulled out a matchbox. “Don’t use ‘em all, now,” he said with a mock-serious look. 

She snatched the matchbox from the old man and started to walk over to an empty table when Hermes called after her, “Be sure to ask one of the servers for some food! I’m sure you’re hungry!”

She nodded back at him and made her way over to the table she had sought after and set her knapsack down. She dug through it until she found the tall candle and set it on the table. She dug through the box for a single match, struck it against the side, and brought the small flame to the wick. The candle was ablaze for a few seconds and greedy for the warmth, Eurydice held her chilled fingers against it. But when she reached to put the matchbox in her coat pocket, the flame had blown out.

 _What?_ She fished the box back out of her pocket and tried again. She tried to light it with different matches, but for some reason the candle kept blowing out. She let out a frustrated growl. It was as if some outside force was hell-bent on keeping her from getting warm. 

Well, it wouldn't be the first time the gods seemed to be against her.

Giving up, she just wrapped her threadbare coat tighter around herself and scoped out the room. There were people from all walks of life in this place. Some older gentlemen with work overalls and heavy coats on, laughing and happy about the workday being over. There were servers dressed in white aprons, waiting on the customers, and delivering their food and drinks. And at a table in a far corner of the room, there were four or five younger women whispering and apparently gossiping among themselves about the attractive men in the room.

Or at least, that’s what she thought they were gossiping about, until one glanced over at her and quickly looked away.

Eurydice sighed. No matter where she went, she was judged. If it wasn’t her unknown, possibly half-blooded heritage, then it was the battered, torn clothes she wore. If it wasn’t her clothes, then it was her lack of money. She wished for once, just once, to be somewhere where people didn’t look at her like she was a pitiful, broken thing.

Speaking of people looking at her, she felt yet another pair of eyes on her. She glanced over at the bar and saw a man, probably in his late twenties, looking over at her. He wore the same apron as Hermes’ other workers and had slightly disheveled dark hair. Noticing he was caught staring, he startled and quickly turned away, his face beet red.

Eurydice frowned. What was it? Was there something on her face? Or was this town just full of nosy people. She felt across her face and looked at her hand. No, nothing there.

She glanced back at the strange man. He was near a small stage next to the bar that she hadn’t noticed before, sweeping with a broom. After a minute, she noticed that he was still sneaking glances over at her. And even from across the room, she could still see his face lit up as red as a tomato, as he focused very hard on sweeping a particular spot on the floor.

She quietly breathed out a small laugh despite herself. Normally, this kind of behavior from a man would irritate her and make her want to punch them, but…well, she couldn’t quite understand why he didn’t bother her. There was just something about this man. This man who not-so-subtly gawks at her from across the room, something about him made her sure he wasn’t a threat to her. Maybe it was because he was a little on the scrawny side, that a small breeze could float in the small tavern and carry him away.

Or maybe…just maybe, she liked the way he looked at her.

Maybe she liked that, for once, someone looked at her and didn’t try to peel her apart and examine every piece of her. And he didn’t stare at her in a crude way. She knows what that particular look looks like because she’s had many men give her that kind of look before. The ones who seemed to think that if they stare at her long enough, she’d go to bed with them that night.

No, the way he stared at her…he looked at her like she was the one who put the brightest stars in the dark sky.

She furiously shook the thought away. _You’re ridiculous_. Of course that wasn’t why he was staring. It was probably the fact that her coat was two sizes too large for her short frame or the remaining snowflakes in her hair that probably looked like dandruff.

_You don’t deserve to have someone look at you that way._

She sighed and glanced at the candle and the matchbox on the table. There was nothing else to do, so she might as well try lighting it again. So she set to work on fiddling with the objects again, not even noticing the sound of Hermes giving her little stalker a warning, as he quietly made his way over to Eurydice’s table, a paper flower in his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was a little over 1,200 words I think, but I plan on making them a little longer. Again, all feedback is appreciated, and let me know if this is something you'd be interested in! Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
